Umberto Bossi

Umberto Bossi (19 September 1941-) was Federal Secretary of Lega Nord from 4 December 1989 to 5 April 2012, preceding Roberto Maroni. Bossi was the founder of Lega Nord, a regionalist and populist political party that sought either independence or autonomy for northern Italy.

Biography
Umberto Bossi was born in Cassano Magnago, Lombardy, Italy in 1941, and he became involved with Bruno Salvadori's Valdostan Union party. After Salvadori's death in a car accident in 1980, Bossi began to focus more on Lombardy, and he founded the regionalist Lega Lombarda in 1982. Soon, the Lega Lombarda allied with Liga Veneta and Lega Piemont to form the Lega Nord alliance, and Bossi was elected a Senator in 1987 and to the Chamber of Deputies in 1992. He branded his party as both libertarian and socialist, and he sought to federalize the country and grant greater autonomy to the northern regions, which he felt were paying for the south's excessive welfare needs. Bossi and Lega Nord achieved rapid success as the Tangentopoli scandal destroyed the credibility of the Italian Socialist Party (which dominated Milanese politics), Christian Democracy (which dominated the rural areas of northern Italy), and the other major parties. In 1994, Bossi helped Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party with rising to power by forming a coalition government, but the coalition collapsed before Christmas, ending Berlusconi's first cabinet. However, he was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for accepting a ₤200 million bribe, and his sentence was upheld upon appeal.

In 2001, Bossi agreed to return to an alliance with Berlusconi, helping Berlusconi regain power. He served as Reforms Minister in Berlusconi's second cabinet, but he was forced to quit after suffering from a debilitating stroke. He then served as an MEP, although he only attended 9% of all meetings due to his Euroscepticism and his poor health. He slowly returned to active politics, serving as Minister for Federal Reforms from 2008 to 2011. In 2012, he resigned as Federal Secretary of Lega Nord after he was accused of appropriating party funds for the private affairs of his family, using the money for house renovations and on favors for his family. He was given the honorary position of party president, and Matteo Salvini took over as official leader of the party in 2013.